Hey guys. Just a quick one to say thank you everyone for the comments and support over the past few days. I was and am overwhelmed by your kind words. Here is the next one for you guys and I really hope you like it. I have worked and reworked this one to try and do it right, so I really hope I did it justice.
Warning - reference to and alluding to spanking of a minor.
Banging on the door pulled them both out of the slumber. Gabby glancing at the clock to see it was still the middle of the night, the bright numbers telling her it was barely four am. Rubbing her eyes she tried to focus on her surroundings, pushing herself up in the bed.
"Who's banging at our door at this time?" She grumbled.
Matt shook his head "I don't know. Stay here!" He said firmly pulling on a pair of sweats and moving towards the bedroom door.
"What? Why? I'm coming with you!" Gabby said just as firmly standing up from the bed and following after him.
"Gabby stay here." He ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. She gave him a short nod and stopped by the door, listening to her husband making his way down the stairs. She could hear voices and someone sobbing but couldn't work out who it was until she heard Matt say "Eva just tell me what happened.." that she moved. Her mind racing of all the reasons her niece would be on her doorstep on a Saturday at this hour.
"Matt?" She called as she came to the top of the stairs, "what's going on?"
"Gabby I thought I told you to stay in the bedroom." She could tell he wasn't in the best of moods between being woken up early, Eva being on their doorstep covered in what Gabby thought looked like blood and her defiance of orders his temper was only just holding out. But the fear of seeing her niece in the state she was in over rode any order or threat he could give her at the minute.
She made her way down the stairs quickly, only noticing once she was at the bottom that her niece wasn't alone. She'd got a friend with her who looked in equally a bad way. "What the hell Eva?"
"Aunt Gabby please don't yell.."
"Yell! Eva you turn up at our door covered in blood with a girl I've never met before in the early hours of the morning! What did you expect? Breakfast?"
"No! But please we need help..."
At her words Gabby's face softened, she was still confused, mad, pissed, worried and all of the above but hearing her brothers eldest ask for help made something switch inside her. She glanced at Matt who had a deep frown etched on his face but was refraining from saying anything, she assumed because if he did he'd blow up. It had only been a couple of weeks ago Eva had promised them both that she was going to turn things around and although they had no idea yet of what had brought her here this morning they both knew that for her to come here instead of going home must mean it was something Antonio was not going to like and if he wasn't going to like it, she could sure as hell know that the same feeling would be held by herself and Matt when they finally got to the bottom of it. For now though they needed to get the two girls cleaned up and talking and to do that they both needed to keep level headed.
"Come on let's get you some tea and get you both cleaned up. Then we can talk."
"Ok Aunt Gabby" Eva said her small voice not helping the worry growing in the pit of her stomach.
"I'll call Antonio" Matt said as the three women moved further into the house.
"Uncle Matt please don't" Eva begged, but she was met only by him shaking his head.
"I'm sorry Eva but you are thirteen and he needs to know where you are. When he wakes up and your not home he's ..."
"He thinks I'm at Hayley's." She blurted out.
"Who's Hayley?" Gabby asked.
"I'm Hayley" said the other girl, Gabby giving a short nod in response.
"Ok but I still think we have to call him sweetheart."
"Why" Eva demanded her arms folding across her chest.
At that Matt exploded, not only was his niece not where she'd told her dad she'd be, she'd obviously got into some sort of trouble and now she was laying on attitude. "Eva Marie Dawson I would check your attitude right now if I was you." He shouted, the anger he was feeling spilling over. "I don't care if you have a friend here or not, I will not have you speak to your Aunt that way. I'm calling your dad and when he gets here you best have a good explanation for him as to why you aren't where you said you were going to be..."
Gabby watched as her niece froze in front of her, she knew what she was thinking. Antonio has been very clear that he was at the end of his tether with the young girl and the paramedic knew that he was not going to be happy with her choices here but she also knew Matt was right. They had no choice they had to call him.
"Come on" she said again, facing both the girls, "Matt you call my brother but try and keep him calm." Casey raised his eyebrow at his wife, the look telling her that he wasn't impressed "I know your mad, I am too. But we don't know what happened yet so until we do there is no reason to fly of the handle and you know that Antonio can be a little bit... passionate when he wants to be."
"Ok. I'll try but you best get her talking." He said pointing towards their niece who was now sat at the island in the kitchen.
"Thank you."
Dawson moved towards the kitchen sighing deeply to herself. She understood the young girls fear, if it had been her she would have felt the same. She had felt the same on a few occasions when she was her age but that didn't excuse anything and it certainly didn't explain how they'd ended up here.
"You going to tell me what happened?" She asked placing two mugs of tea in front of the girls.
"You're not going to like it." Eva said raising the mug to her lips.
"Probably not but you're still going to tell me." Gabby demanded, grabbing the first aid kit and washing her hands. "Now let me look at you and while I tend to this" she said indicating the huge gash above her nieces eyebrow "you can talk. And I want to know everything."
"I told dad I was staying at Hayley's last night because I wanted to go to this party. I knew he wouldn't let me go so I thought if I told him I was at a sleepover it would be ok. He'd never know right?"
Gabby scoffed a little at that, oh how naive her niece was. "You have met your dad right? Antonio Dawson the detective?"
"I know, I know it was stupid but Hayley's parents are outta town and I really didn't think anything of it." She continued a slight grimace escaping as her aunt cleaned her wounds. "So dad dropped me off and I told him I'd call him when I was ready to be picked up. He thought we were working on a project for school. Which wasn't a complete lie, we did do some work on it." She added quickly hearing her aunt take a deep in take of breath.
"So what happened? You went to the party I'm taking it?"
"Yea we went and it was fun and..."
"Yes?"
"Everything was fine, we had a couple of drinks..."
"Eva.."
"I know ok! I don't need the lecture.." she snapped.
Gabby stepped back so she could get her nieces full attention and eye contact "don't" she said pointing her finger at her "speak to me like that! You are in enough trouble and if you want me to help even a little with your dad you'll check your attitude or I might just let him do whatever he wants with you."
"Sorry" the young girl whispered.
"Yeah you will be." Gabby threatened "so what happened? You had a few drinks?"
"Yea we had a few drinks and then I started talking to this lad I like. He was kinda the reason I went... nothing happened. Well not past first base.." she said nibbling nervously on her bottom lip in a similar way to Gabby did when she was hiding something.
"Are you sure?"
"He.. we erm.. this is embarrassing." She said looking away.
Gabby turned her head back to face her, holding her chin between her thumb and forefinger. "I said are you sure? And I want the truth!"
"We grouped a little but we didn't go all the way" she admitted, her aunt letting go of her chin once the words left her lips. Nodding to tell her to continue. "But this other girl Janie she likes him too and well things got a little heated."
"By a little heated you mean you got in a fight? Again!"
"Yes" she whispered, she knew she was in trouble. She knew her aunt and uncle weren't going to be happy but she also knew they'd be less mad than her dad and she dreaded to think what was going to happen to her once he found out. Between lying and going to a party, she'd drunk, she'd been with a boy and worse of all she'd gotten into yet another fight. "But I didn't start it!"
"She didn't" Hayley said, speaking for only the second time since arriving. "Janie lunged at her and started it. Eva just defended herself."
"Ok I believe you" Gabby said coming to her next question, "how did you get here?"
"We walked" Eva admitted, she knew it would be another strike against her, she had always been told not to walk the streets of Chicago at night and although it was technically morning she knew none of the adults were going to notice the difference.
"Where from?"
"About ten blocks away.."
"Eva" Gabby said through gritted teeth, the more she heard the angrier she got. "There all done." She said placing the last sterile strip across the gash. It didn't look so bad now she was cleaned up, something Gabby was hoping worked in her nieces favor when her brother arrived. "You know better than to walk around Chicago in the middle of the night."
"I know but what other choice did I have aunt Gabby? I couldn't stay at the party not when I just got my ass kicked."
"Language" the older woman warned.
"Sorry. But I couldn't could I? And we couldn't go to my house and I thought, well I knew if I came here you be able to help patch us up. And I was kinda hoping..." her words trailed off as she stared at her aunt, tears welling in her eyes. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't tell dad."
"Yea well you didn't plan on uncle Matt being the one that answered the door if you thought there was anyway this wasn't going to result in us calling him."
"I thought uncle Matt might have been on shift." She admitted.
"His still recovering".
"I forgot about that, I don't think I was exactly thinking straight."
"You'll be thinking straight by the time I'm finished with you" Antonio's voice came across the kitchen, the man looking angrier than Gabby thought she'd ever seen him. None of them had heard him come in but by the sound of his voice he'd heard at least some of their conversation. "What's the damage Gabs?"
"Nothing more than a cut" she told him, "there was a lot of blood but that's normal with a head injury. She seems ok."
"Good thank you for patching her up. Is there a room I can speak to her in private?" He asked looking between his sister and brother in law.
"You can use the office upstairs" Matt said, "second on the right."
"Thank you" the older Dawson replied, seizing his daughters upper arm firmly and pulling her towards the stairs. The look of fear shining in the young girls eyes. Gabby shaking her head sadly at her, even if she didn't think she deserved what was coming, which she did! She was completely certain that whatever her brother had in store for her niece was deserved, she couldn't have stopped it. And she wasn't going to try. This was one of those circumstances where she just had to let the girl atone for her misgivings. And although the consequences for her actions were going to be severe, and as much as Gabby hated the thought of her young niece experiencing them she knew it was the only option left. Everything else had failed, she'd broken every promise she'd made, broken every rule in the book and she was about to find out what that meant.
"Hayley was it?" Gabby asked, dragging her eyes from the scene in front of her.
"Yes mam."
"Let's have a look at you."
Gabby silently looked over the young girls injuries which considering everything she'd just been told were fairly minor. Her knuckles were a bit swollen, and she may have a broken finger or two but apart from that it was nothing more than a split lip and a few scratches.
"All fixed up" Gabby said, packing away the first aid kit and moving towards her husband. She could hear her brothers raised voice and although it was muffled by the closed door she could work our most of what he was saying.
"How mad is he?" She asked when she reached the couch her husband was sat on.
"On a scale of one to ten I'd say a hundred."
"She's got herself into a big mess this time.." Gabby said more to herself than anyone else.
"... for gods sake Eva! Again!" They heard Antonio shout. "What did I say would happen if you got into a fight again?"
"Yea I'd say so" Matt sighed looking at the exhausted look in his wife's eyes. "You ok?"
"Just tired and maybe a little concerned."
He kissed her head softly "that's because you're an amazing aunt and you know what Antonio is likely to do."
"Yea. I don't like it though Matt. The thought of her having that done to her. I don't like it."
"I know but your brother wouldn't do anything that wasn't absolutely warranted and I have to agree with him that this time it is completely warranted."
"I suppose you're right".
"Yup I probably am, but that doesn't mean you have to agree. I know your feelings on kids and spankings."
Gabby bit down roughly on her lip, the brunette thinking over her next words carefully. "Yea but I think this goes with what I was saying about exhausting all other avenues before resorting to it. Antonio has tried everything else what choice does he have?"
Matt nodded sadly, he too wasn't thrilled about what was coming for his niece but he too saw that his brother in law didn't have much choice now. Antonio has tried reasoning, he'd tried grounding her, he'd tried every other punishment in the book and still she disobeyed and acted out. It was time for extreme measures. "I don't think he has any other choice babe."
"...I don't care who started it! I told you last time if you ever hit someone again..."
"Dad please" they heard Eva sob followed by a ear piercing scream.
Gabby's eyes widen at the sound of her nieces cries, the woman well aware of what had probably played out behind the door. "I errr I'm going to go stand in the garden for a bit" she said to Matt, tears brimming at her eyes "I can't listen to this."
"Ok" he said squeezing her arm gently as she moved.
It was another twenty minutes before Matt came out to her, the man wanting to be completely sure that everything was done with before he gave her the all clear. Antonio having come downstairs a few minutes before to ask if they could keep Eva for a bit while he took Hayley home.
"Baby" he spoke softly, Gabby's head snapping up to look at him. From the look on her face he could tell she'd been in another place, that wherever her head had gone hadn't been exactly good. "You ok?"
"Uh huh" she nodded, although her action wasn't convincing. "Is it over?"
"Yea, Antonio's taking Hayley home, I told Eva to go lay down in the guest room. But I think she needs her aunt right now. Someone who understands what she's feeling." He said softly, his soft blue eyes showing her only sympathy.
"I'll go see her, was she... err.. did she seem ok?"
"As ok as I think she's going to be." He answered honestly. The truth was when he saw his nieces face he'd been shocked to say the least. The young girls eyes baring a distraught look, her face puffy and red. He wasn't certain what had gone on behind the door but he was almost positive he could take an educated guess. Between her crying and the occasional scream he'd heard he would say his brother in law had followed through with his threat to some degree. And seeing her like that had broken his heart, it had only cemented the need to try and never resort to it with their kids. He never wanted to see that look in their eyes and he would do everything in his power to never see it in his nieces again.
"Ok" she nodded, moving inside the house as quickly as she could. Gabby moving up the stairs and towards the guest room, she pushed the door open gently to find Eva curled on the bed sobbing softly into the pillow. Her back towards the door. "Eva."
"Go away" the teen snapped, brushing the tears from her face.
"Sweetheart I just want to make sure your ok?"
"I said leave me alone!" She shouted.
The sound of her pained voice broke Gabby as she stood in the doorway her own tears over flowing. "Eva please I just want to help."
"You could have helped earlier!" She spat, turning her head over her shoulder, "but instead you let uncle Matt call him, you let him... I don't want to talk to you." She said, her words cutting through her chest.
"Ok well then I'll talk and you can listen." She said moving into the room and sitting down by her nieces feet. "I know that was hard, I don't know exactly what went on up here but I'm sure I can guess correctly. And I know your hurt, and you probably hate us right now. I get it believe me I do. But once you let go of that anger you'll realize it was the only option left, you brought this on yourself."
"He didn't have to... he could have waited to... why did he do it here? With you and uncle Matt here and Hayley. How am I meant to ever look her in the eye again?"
"Ah so you're more embarrassed about us all being here to witness than you are about what he did?" She asked, the older woman understanding the feeling more than she cared to admit.
Eva nodded her head, the young teen moving on to her back and looking at her aunt for the first time. A soft gasp escaping as her butt moved across the sheets. "Yea! I mean I don't ever want to go through that again but the fact that you all heard, that Hayley heard. That's beyond mortifying aunt Gabby. And I hate him for it!"
"Eva you don't mean that.."
"No you're probably right" she sighed "but I really don't like him right now. And not just because I'm not sure when I'll next be able to sit down."
"Yeah I won't lie that's probably going to be an issue for a while. I'd advise cushioned seats" Gabby joked lightly, her tone clearing the air around them slightly.
"I know you said it hurt but I never expected it to hurt this much."
"I did try to warn you."
"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." She paused staring at her aunt knowing that wasn't the only thing she needed to apologize for, "and I'm sorry for just turning up in the middle of the night."
"Hey, look at me. That's what we are here for, yeah we called your dad but you can always come here no matter what the time ok?"
"Thanks aunt Gabby."
They sat for a while aunt and niece in silence, Gabby's hand resting on the younger Dawson's leg stroking comfortingly as she watched her battle with the exhaustion she was feeling. In this moment her niece looked like the most innocent being on the planet, her soft brown curls flailed across the pillow, her face relaxing as once again her eyes flickered closed.
Sitting here watching her Gabby couldn't help but feel a huge amount of sadness for the young girl, the events of this morning would be forever imprinted into her mind. And the innocence she'd had only a few weeks ago at the firehouse was gone, she no longer just wondered how it would feel, she knew. And that was something her aunt wished she'd never got to experience. It was something that literally broke her heart, the pain she saw in her eyes when she first came in would forever be imprinted on the older woman. The fact that it had happened right here in her home, the fact that they had played a part in it by phoning Antonio. She wasn't sure she could forgive herself for not just hearing her niece out and helping her. She could have done it, they could have. They could have patched her up, let her sleep off the alcohol and the eventual hangover and then dropped her and her friend back at the house they should have been at. Antonio wouldn't have had to know. But then how would she have explained the sterile strips on her eye? She'd have had to tell him something?
Gabby shook her head, there was no point having this battle with herself, what was done was done. There was nothing they could do to change it now. All she could do was take care of her niece now and let her know that she could lean on her. And maybe teach her the tips she'd learnt in lessening the uncomfortable feeling she had in her behind. But now she was going to let her sleep.
She stood up from the bed pulling the blanket over the young teen and placing a gentle kiss to her head before turning out the light and heading towards the door.
"Aunt Gabby" Eva's voice broke through the darkness, the gentle sound taking Dawson by surprise.
"Yea honey?"
"Can I stay with you for a bit?"
Gabby wasn't sure what to say, she didn't want to reject her niece but she also didn't want to go against what her brother would want. "Just sleep for now, we'll discuss options later ok?"
"Ok" she said, her answer seeming to have satisfied the young girl for now.
It was almost one o'clock before Gabby woke again, the paramedic momentarily confused as to why the bed next to her was empty before she remembered the early morning activities. Sighing deeply she pushed herself out of bed, heading towards the bathroom. Stopping in her tracks when she heard several voices flowing in from downstairs, one of them she recognized no issue. Her mother's voice distinct even through the closed door. Deciding it was better for her to get dressed before heading downstairs, mixed with the urgent need to pee she moved into the bathroom, haphazardly moving around the room before grabbing a pair of leggings and one of Matt's CFD shirts.
She checked herself over in the mirror once more before heading downstairs. The paramedic soon finding her family sat around in the lounge. Eva sat between her father and grandmother, tucked under the arm of the older woman. The sight in front of her made her heart swell, Matt, Ramon and Antonio were laughing about something, what she couldn't tell but the feeling in the air was relaxed and contented. She knew from just one look alone that all earlier feelings of distress and anger were long gone.
"Mija" Ramon said, his eyes meeting hers. "You're awake."
"Hey dad, mum. What are you both doing here?"
"Antonio called us honey. I hope you don't mind that we've crashed your house."
"No no it's fine" Gabby insisted moving towards the couches. She placed a kiss to her husbands lips before giving her dad a hug. The woman waving her mum off as she attempted to stand up, she knew from experience that there was nothing better than her hugs when you were sad or in need of comfort. She could have hugs later right now Eva was the one who needed that embrace. "So I take it you know about this morning?" She asked, taking up the seat next to Matt.
"Yes your brother phoned us, he was in quite a state" Camile said looking down at her granddaughter.
"The first time is always the hardest" Ramon added, a knowing look in his eyes. "But hopefully Eva will be like you and it'll only take one time."
"I'm not planning on being in that position again Abuelo." Eva said, the young girl lifting her head in his direction. "One time was more than enough."
"I'm sure it was." He agreed.
"How you feeling?" Gabby asked looking towards her niece "I know earlier you were upset and you asked me something. Do you still want that?"
Everyone was looking between the two Dawson woman, no one having any idea of the conversation the two had, had before they went back to sleep.
"I don't know maybe." Eva shrugged.
"What's this?" Antonio asked, the man asking the question on everyone's tongues.
Gabby looked at the young girl silently asking permission to tell her father, Eva gave a short nod. "Earlier when you took Hayley home I went to check on Eva. I just needed to make sure she was ok after.. you know."
Antonio raised his brow at her tone, a tone that said more about how she felt in regards to his way of dealing with things. "Gabby.."
"Antonio let me finish" she said quite forcefully, her eyes narrowing in on him. "I won't lie and say I was ok with what happened because I'm not. But you're her father and you did what you felt you needed to, I don't have to agree with it or be ok with it and I certainly can't change it. But I had to check she was ok, and I'm sure you wanted her to sit in that room and think about what she'd done and why you'd done what you'd done but I couldn't leave her in there alone. Not when she was so upset. So I went in and we talked a bit, I thought she'd fallen asleep and was about to leave when she asked if she could stay here for a bit."
There was silence in the lounge, nobody expecting those words to have left Gabby's lips. But they had and it was the truth, she wasn't sure if it was because of what had happened between father and daughter or something else. All she knew was that Eva had expressed a desire to stay with her aunt and uncle, a desire she seemingly still had.
Nobody spoke, nobody moved. All six of them staring at each other as the words the youngest Dawson had said hung in the air. Eva shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, the young teen snuggling further into her grandmother, her eyes locked on her father, who's eyes were locked with his sisters. Ramon and Camila giving each other an uneasy look. While Casey's eyes darted around the room looking uneasily from each member of the Dawson's family.
"Is that true" Camila asked gently, looking down towards her granddaughter.
"I.. me and dad we just clash so much right now. I just thought maybe it would be a good idea."
"Eva you're thirteen" Ramon started his loud voice causing all of them to flinch. "You can't just run off to your aunts because your dad finally grew a backbone and did something about your unruly behavior."
"That's not what this is Abuelo" Eva tried to argue, the tears springing to her eyes almost instantly.
"You can save your tears young lady, you're damn lucky your dad only spanked you. If you were my daughter you'd be grounded forever, I'm tired of watching you walk all over your father."
"Abuelo.."
"No Eva it's about time you start listening to the adults in your life and if you don't so help me what your dad did to you will feel like nothing compared to what I'll do.."
"Dad" Antonio cut in, the man hearing more than enough of his dads threats towards his baby girl. "Let her explain."
Ramon huffed straightening his spine out as he opened his mouth to argue.
"Ramon" Camila spoke softly, "let the girl speak. Eva sweetheart why do you feel like you need to stay with Aunt Gabby and Uncle Matt?"
"I just think maybe some space between me and dad would help. I always feel like he's on my back about one thing or another, and recently I've been doing things I know he won't like because I... It's like I have this need, this desire to rebel against what he wants. I love you dad, more than anything but you put so much pressure on me to be this perfect person and student and sometimes I just want to do what other thirteen year olds do. I want to be able to mess up and learn from it, go to a party now and again without everyone being given a background check before I go. Just be normal."
"Sweetheart I only do those things because I care."
"I know" she said quietly, "but sometimes it's too much. Hayley's parents go out of town every so often and they leave her and her older brother alone for the weekend, but you won't even leave me alone over night. You still have a babysitter come in, I'm going to be fourteen in a few weeks and I just need some more freedom dad. I know I haven't earn't that right recently and I've gone about it all the wrong way. But what happened this morning... I don't ever want to go through that again and not just because it hurts like hell. Which it does by the way!" She said, a small smile coming to her lips as she saw her dad do the same. "But because in that moment I had never been more embarrassed or regretful about anything in my entire life. I've never experienced disappointment from you or mum like that. And well mum she's kinda checked out, she isn't fussed by what we do anymore and it's like I have two parents on completely different scales of caring. I just need some time, to think, to be a normal teenager. And I think maybe I could do that if I stayed here a while. But I know I haven't exactly done anything to earn the right to make that decision. So please dad I'm asking you to just think about it, let me have some time."
Antonio remained silent, the man's mouth slightly open as he mulled over the speech his daughter had just given. He didn't really know what to say, think or feel, a rush of different emotions and feeling swimming through his head and heart. The latter feeling like someone had just put a knife through it. He had done this, he had been so concerned about keeping her safe that he'd slowly pushed her down this route, this route that had lead to him doing the last thing he ever imagined doing to one of his children. Yes he'd been mad this morning, beyond it, when Casey had called and said that Eva had turned up on his doorstep covered in blood from some party he was furious with her and he had lost no time in making that abundantly clear to her. But now that he heard how she was feeling, heard how his and Laura's parenting had caused her to go down this path he couldn't help but think he needed to let her do this. Let her stay with his sister and brother in law and be a normal teenager for a while. But if and that was a big if, if he allowed this he'd need some reassurances from all of them.
"Eva, I don't know. I need to discuss this with both Gabby and Matt, I can't say yes and I won't say no. Not until I've thought it over and discussed it. Your Aunt is pregnant and having a teenager around the house may not be whats best for her right now, never mind the fact that neither of them are working at the moment. Matt's still recovering, it's not whether or not I'll allow it, it's more a matter of if Matt and Gabby can handle a teenager at the moment." He rubbed his hand over his face, the man obviously in deep thought. "Do you have any school work with you?"
"Yes, it's in my rucksack I took to Hayley's."
"Ok, go start on your homework in the office upstairs while I talk with your aunt and uncle ok?"
"Yes Dad." she said standing up and moving towards the stairs but before she got very far she turned back and ran at her father, the girl crushing him with her body as she embraced him "I love you dad, this has nothing to do with that. I still love you."
"I know and I love you" he said hugging her back, "now go do your school work."
She nodded before heading back towards the stairs, her Aunts voice stopping her when she was three steps up. "Eva, there's a cushion in the bottom drawer you might need it." Her words made the girl smile slightly, all of them understanding what she was meaning. Matt more than anyone understanding Gabby's words, the chair in the office was wooden and certainly wouldn't be comfortable for the teenager at the moment.
"Thank you" she smiled before disappearing.
Gabby turned her attention to her brother, the older Dawson's face still twisted in deep thought. "So?" she asked, his eyebrows raising at her slightly.
"I don't know Gabs, I don't know. Isn't it rewarding her for bad behavior?"
Gabby opened her mouth to speak but Matt beat her to it, "Antonio if you agree to her staying here I can assure you that she will be grounded for the next two weeks at least. She will have to do chores and I will not be putting up with any of her teenage drama."
"Matt" Gabby hissed, she wasn't impressed by his attitude or his comments. As far as she was concerned Eva had been punished this morning there was no need to continue it on further.
"No Gabriela" he said firmly, the paramedic flinching at his use of her full name. "This is my house too and she will follow my rules, if she comes to stay with us it is under those terms and those terms alone. She can take it or leave it."
"Matt," Antonio started, the blonde looking up towards his brother in law once more. "Are you sure it's a good idea, I mean you're both in a slightly fragile condition at the moment and Eva she can be quite a handful."
"No more so than your sister" he responded without missing a beat, both her parents and brother nodding in agreement. They'd said it before and they'd all say it again Eva was just like her Aunt in many ways, the good, the bad and the ugly.
"I suppose not."
"If I can say something" Camile offered, the older women's voice soft and gentle. "I think it's a good idea, I know Gabriela could have benefited from some time away from your father when she was Eva's age. And I get what your saying Antonio I do, but I do believe this time would be good for her and I trust Matthew and Gabriela will be able to deal with her. If anyone knows what it feels like to be a thirteen year old girl with a slightly overbearing father it's your sister. Why don't you let her stay here for a little while, let her explore the way she wants to with the guidance of someone who's been there. Without the background checks and constant looking over her shoulder. Like Matthew said it isn't going to be all fun and games for her, if you ask me I'd say it's a fine idea."
"I agree Mama" Gabby said looking towards Matt and her dad, who had yet to say a word.
"Matt?" Antonio asked "what do you think?"
Casey rubbed his hand along his mouth, the man trying to chose his words carefully "I think it's a good idea. I think everything your mum just said is right, she needs to be able to act like a normal teenager and to mess up like one."
"Dad?"
"Well I think you've all just been manipulated by her, and I think if you give into her now it's only going to get worse. But what do I know I only raised you two!" his sharp tone and sarcasm not being missed by any of the adults in the room. "She's a kid, and she told you this sob story and bang you're all bending to her will. I mean it Antonio she needs more of what you gave her this morning, then she'll stop acting like a brat."
"Hey" Antonio said, his tone matching that of his fathers "do not call my kid a brat. Yes she's made some mistakes and bad decisions but she's been dealing with a lot since me and her mother broke up. Maybe this is all my fault, maybe I have been babying her too much."
"Here we go" Ramon said throwing his hands in the air.
"Dad, I hear what you're saying, I do. But she's my daughter and this is my decision."
"So is that a yes?" Gabby asked cautiously.
Antonio nodded his head, "it's a yes, but it's temporary and if her behavior doesn't improve than she's coming home and I'll do whatever is necessary to get her to wake up and straighten up."
The smile on the younger Dawson's face said it all, she was over the moon at being able to help her niece out and she was secretly looking forward to the time they would be spending together. Although she knew what her husband had said about her being grounded for the next two weeks was true, and she knew what that meant in their home. She still had a slight excitement to the things the two of them could do together. The paramedic knowing it had been a long time since she'd spent any decent amount of time with the young girl upstairs. "Are you going to tell her?"
"Not yet no, I want her to stew a little longer. I'll tell her before I leave for now what's say I help you get some lunch prepared."
"I'd say that would be great" Gabby smiled.
"Eva it's time to get up" Gabby said knocking on her nieces bedroom door.
"Five more minutes" she heard the teen mumble.
"Up Eva NOW. You made this deal and your uncle needs to leave soon, don't make me send him up here because you know what he said would happen."
She heard her niece let out a huge sigh but could also hear movement behind the door. Gabby satisfied that the threat of sending Matt up and what that meant working wonders. It had been late before Antonio had left yesterday evening, the man spending the the most part of the day with them and his daughter, staying well past lunch and after their parents had left. He had said he wanted to make sure Eva understood the conditions of her staying her, but Gabby had suspected it was more than that and he actually wanted to make sure his daughter was ok. But whatever the reason it had turned into a good day, Matt and Gabby laying out the ground rules and the four of them getting some stuff sorted around the house. It had been agreed that Eva would stay for a month, the teen staying up to her birthday almost. And although she'd instantly been happy to hear she could stay that happiness had soon faded when Matt had started listing the things she'd be doing while here. First of all he'd grounded her for the next two weeks, just like he'd said he would, then he'd listed the daily chores she was expected to do as well as the construction jobs he was expecting her to help with and all the things she needed to do to help her aunt. After that he'd laid down the ground rules, she was to speak to people with respect, there would be no laying in bed all day, something Antonio had told them had been happening a lot, she would have a curfew and she would be expected to hand her phone and laptop over at the end of the day, that was once she got them back after her grounding. As well as the rules he'd told her the consequences if she broke them, everything from extra chores, to losing her privileges, to being grounded longer and Gabby was certain it was the last one that had gotten her niece out of bed this morning.
"You've got ten minutes to be downstairs." She shouted as she turned and headed downstairs.
"She up" Matt asked the minute she walked into the kitchen.
"Barely"
"She didn't give you any grief did she? I have no issue finding some other chore for her to do."
"No she's ok" Gabby said rolling her eyes. "Don't be too hard on her today."
"Gabby she's being punished for a reason, and she isn't supposed to enjoy it."
"No I know but I also know you, and I know first hand how fun your idea of punishment can be." The sarcasm in her tone making his eyebrows sky rocket, he took huge strides round the counter, soon stopping directly behind her.
"Yes, and you'll be receiving one of those fun punishments alongside her if you carry on..." he warned, Gabby knowing exactly what he meant. "And don't think I didn't see you roll your eyes at me."
Gabby couldn't help but roll them again as she ducked out of range, Casey tutting at her as she did.
"Your going to be the death of me"
"Yeah but you love me" She said smiling widely.
"Yea you got me there. So what are your plans for the day?"
"Shay and Stella are coming round, we're going to get those last few bits down in the babies room and I thought I best pack my hospital bag, you know since these pair will be here soon."
"Sounds fun, just remember to take it easy and eat."
"You too." She said placing a soft kiss to his lips, the two breaking apart as they heard footsteps on the stairs. "Ah there she is, I made you some breakfast to go." Gabby said to her niece, the young teen dressed in some jeans, timberland's and a over sized jumper. She didn't look too impressed about being up so early but to her credit she didn't complain, the young girl taking the paper bag and coffee mug from her aunt before saying a quick goodbye and following her uncle out to the truck.
Gabby busied herself cleaning up the kitchen, and getting some washing on before her friends arrived. The woman deciding on grabbing a quick shower, she made her way upstairs making sure the door was on the latch before heading towards the bathroom. She shed her clothes and threw them in the hamper before stepping into the steady stream of warm water. She didn't shower for too long, her body no longer being capable of being upright for too long, but even the short amount of time she did manage to stand there had helped refresh her. The days had been getting warmer and warmer the further into April something which had been taking it's toll on her more and more.
Stepping out of the shower and wrapping her towel around herself, she could hear voices downstairs. She knew her friends had probably arrived and were probably making themselves at home. Gabby smiled to herself at how comfortable they were in her home, it was something she'd always tried to pride herself on. She wanted her friends and family to all feel equally at home and it was always comforting to her to hear them doing just that.
Pushing open the bathroom door she yelled a hello down the stairs, both Shay and Stella appearing at the bottom pretty quickly.
"Hey" Shay shouted back, "we made coffee hope that's ok?"
"You know it is" Gabby smiled back. "How's things?"
"We're good. Left Kelly going to meet Matt, he said that Eva was with him?" Shay said raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"It's a long story I'll tell you while we're sorting out the babies room, let me just get dressed."
"Can we start on anything?" Stella asked making her way up the stairs.
"Yea, the bedding arrived yesterday for the cots, it's been washed but I never got round to making the cots up can you?"
"Sure, you go make yourself decent and we'll get started."
The day went by quite quickly, Gabby, Shay and Stella making quick work of all the tasks on her list. Before she knew it, it was almost dinnertime and Matt and Eva were home. The two of them looking thoroughly exhausted, Matt sent his niece straight upstairs to get washed up while he made his way into the kitchen.
"Kelly's picking up some take out and coming over I hope that's ok?" he asked, placing a soft kiss to his wife's head.
"Saves me cooking" she said, "I'm beat."
"You look it. Did you get everything done?"
"Yeah, we made a good dent in the to do tasks. The babies room is now completely ready and we got my hospital bags packed, plus one for each of the babies. How did Eva get on?"
"Well she'd added a day to her grounding" Matt sighed.
Gabby frowned at his response, "What happened?"
"I caught her with her phone, she told me that you said she could have it but I know that was a lie because you more than anyone know my rules on technology when grounded." There was an almost accusatory tone to his voice that was daring her to disagree with his comment.
"I told her nothing of the sort, I'm taking that you took it back?"
"Of course, she wasn't happy about it and started giving me lip so I increased her grounding and told her I would keep increasing it if she continued to speak to me that way."
"I'm taking it that did the trick?"
"It did, but I am not impressed if she thinks this is how she's going to carry on she has a rude awakening."
"Just give her some time Matt, she's going through a lot."
"You sound like your mum and Antonio" Matt said, moving to grab a beer. Greeting the two woman who'd just come in from the garden as he went.
"And you sound like my dad" Gabby shot back, her words earning her a warning look from her husband.
Twenty minutes later and Kelly had arrived, the man baring food and beer, and some ginger ale for Gabby. Eva had got showered and changed and was sat at the island doing some homework. Gabby over looking it to make sure it was done properly, the woman wanting to give her niece every opportunity to get back into everyone's good graces.
The evening was a fun one, filled with laughter and jokes. Gabby loved having her friends round and she loved the way they included her niece as if she had always been there, the one thing that had made her heart swell more than anything was her husband though, for as annoyed as he had been in the teenagers earlier attitude he treated her with kindness and understanding. The man even sitting with her for well over an hour and helping with some math homework she was stuck on.
Gabby wasn't sure what was going to happen in the coming weeks, she wasn't certain they could help their niece turn her life around but she knew that they weren't going to give up on her. And that thought helped her slip into a peaceful sleep that night, her husbands arms wrapped around her, her niece fast asleep in the room down the hall. Everything seemed like it was falling into place. Everything seemed just perfect, that was until she was awoken by a sudden pain in her stomach and back. A dampness between her legs immediately throwing up a red flag for the paramedic.
"Matt" she whispered pushing on his shoulder gently. "Matt" she said a bit louder.
"What's wrong" he grumbled back.
"I think my water just broke."
...
UH OH!